Controversial Belltown videos are gone — for now

If you wanted to see those controversial citizen videos that stirred up so much discussion about Belltown crime, you’re out of luck.

The videos are no longer publicly viewable on YouTube.

The woman who filmed, uploaded and got both praised and panned for them confirmed today she made the videos private, but then said she was sure they’d “pop up again somewhere else soon.” She also said she’s gotten e-mails from Belltowners and others who say they’re going to start posting their own own watchdog pics and videos (one of her neighbors already has).

The BelltownCrime YouTube page now features this message:

The videos are now private, if you are SPD or the city, please feel free to email if you would like to use the video – everyone else will need to use Google archives, sorry. I only took the videos for two weeks, and it was never my intention to keep shooting videos or to leave the videos on for a long time, just wanted light to be shed on the problem, it obviously worked (and got blown out of proportion a bit), now lets see if it makes a difference.

Thanks to the people who support the videos, and the negative comments were still appreciated because at least the city is talking! That is the first step, acknowledging a problem!

Just as with these videos, the news often does not capture the full story, or the correct facts. And, as with these videos, take what you see and hear with a grain of salt. ;)

P.S. — Alex R. Mayer, the publisher of the Belltown Messenger who called the woman “cowardly” in the Belltowner blog, says he’s taking partial credit for the videos’ removal. “We don’t need unsavory crackporn clogging up our YouTubes,” he wrote in an e-mail. The Messenger has dubbed the issue the “crack porn scandal” and the woman the “Belltown peeper.”